Report stage and third reading of Pensions Bill [HL]
19 October 2011 (updated on 19 October 2011)
The House of Commons held the report stage and third reading of the Pensions Bill [HL] on Tuesday 18 October. The Bill has now completed all its Commons stages and any amendments the Commons made to the Bill will now be considered by the House of Lords.
Summary of the Bill
The four parts of the Bill include a range of measures related to pension provision which;
- Accelerates the existing timetable for increasing the State Pension age to 66
- Amends the legislative framework requiring employers to automatically enrol employees into a qualifying pension system and to make contributions to that scheme
- Amends legislation providing for the indexation and revaluation of occupational pensions and payments from the Pension Protection Fund
- Allows contributions to be taken towards the cost of providing personal pension benefits to members of Judicial Pension Schemes.
Keep up to date with all the proceedings and documentation on the Pensions Bill [HL]. Also find out how a Bill becomes an Act of Parliament.
NB: [HL] denotes that the Bill was introduced into the House of Lords before being considered by the House of Commons.
Report stage proceedings and third reading
MPs considered in the following order; Amendments 1, 3, 13 and 14, New Clause 2, Amendments 15 and 16, New Clauses 3 and 7, and Amendment 17.
Amendment 1 was considered and by leave withdrawn.
Amendment 3 was considered and negatived on a division (Ayes 244; Noes 291)
Amendments 13 and 14 were agreed to without a division.
New Clause 2 which relates to qualifying schemes and administration charges was read a first and second time and added to the Bill.
Amendments 15 and 16 were agreed to without a division.
New Clauses 3 which relates to definition of money purchase benefits and New Clause 7 which relates to regulations, were both added to the Bill.
Amendment 17 was agreed to without a division.
The Bill was read a third time with a division (Ayes 287; Noes 242)
Watch and read the views expressed by MPs considering the Bill at report stage and third reading on Parliament TV and in Commons Hansard. The Commons amendments to the Bill will now be considered by the House of Lords.
- Parliament TV: Report stage and third reading of Pensions Bill [HL]
- Commons Hansard: Report stage and third reading of Pensions Bill [HL]
Report stage and third reading
The report stage gives MPs an opportunity, on the floor of the House, to consider further amendments (proposals for change) to a Bill which has been examined in committee.
There is no set time period between the end of committee stage and the start of the report stage.
What happens at report stage?
All MPs may speak and vote, for lengthy or complex Bills the debates may be spread over several days. All MPs can suggest amendments to the Bill or new clauses (parts) they think should be added.
What happens after report stage?
Report stage is usually followed immediately by debate on the Bill's third reading.
What happens at third reading?
Debate on the Bill is usually short, and limited to what is actually in the Bill, rather than, as at second reading, what might have been included.
Amendments (proposals for change) cannot be made to a Bill at third reading in the Commons.
At the end of the debate, the House decides (votes on) whether to approve the third reading of the Bill.
What happens after third reading?
If the Bill started in the Commons it goes to the House of Lords for its first reading. If the Bill started in the Lords it will return to the House of Lords for consideration of any amendments the Commons have made.